Meeting Notes: 1/30/09 · Goal: Develop a differentiated reading list for each grade level—(separate reading list for regular ed. classes and honors) · Come up with strategies to entice students to read outside of regular classroom texts
o Narrowed free reading list, divided by genre or topic of interest and each class require students to read one book per quarter
o Allow Jeff to come into the classroom and discuss good books—work on selling a book to a student
-Jeff will put up bulletin boards in the library after individual classes complete independent reading projects
o Webpage of a recommended reading list for parents with tips about what to discuss while students are reading. Suggested ideas: § Themes § What to look for and discuss in the text § Literary terms to look for § Cheat sheet for parents so they can sit down and book talk with their students § Brochure type information for each book § Links to reading lists, good sites, library catalog § Book list with recommended reading based on grade and class Complete Literature Review about independent reading and reading motivation (Cassie)
·Come up with motivational strategies for teachers to hand out to parents at registration/open house type of functions · Develop a book club—after school curricular activity (Jeff’s goal) · Create a section of library dedicated to student book recommendations, generate student recommended reading lists · Flyers in the library—for “biblio quests” · Post reading lists on staff websites, on school website for easy at home access
· On website post:
o Individual teacher recommendations
o AP Test recommended reading
o Reading resource for parents and students
o Great reading books for guys
o Great reading for books
Books staff will read to approve: · Treasure Island (Hanson) · Metamorphosis (Schreiber) · Pride and Prejudice (Kitze-Ward)
Current books approved by 2 staff members (will be divided into reading lists for each grade level and each class—honors, AP, regular English): Title Author Beowulf
Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen
Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte
Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte
The Canterbury Tales Geoffrey Chaucer
The Awakening Kate Chopin
Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad
The Red Badge of Courage Stephen Crane
Inferno Dante
Don Quixote Miguel de Cervantes
A Tale of Two Cities Charles Dickens
Crime and Punishment Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass
As I lay Dying William Faulkner
The Great Gatsby Scott Fitzgerald
Lord of the Flies William Golding
The Scarlett Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne
A Farewell to Arms Ernest Hemingway
The Iliad Homer
The Odyssey Homer
Their Eyes Were Watching God Zora Neale Hurston
Brave New World Aldous Huxley
A Doll’s House Henrik Ibsen
To Kill a Mocking Bird Harper Lee
The Call of the Wild Jack London
Bartelby the Scrivener Herman Melville
Moby Dick Herman Melville
Beloved Toni Morrison
Doctor Zhivago Boris Pasternak
The Bell Jar Sylvia Plath
Hamlet Shakespeare
Macbeth “
A Mid Summer Night’s Dream “
Romeo and Juliet “
Frankenstein Mary Shelley
Ceremony Leslie Silko
Antigone Sophocles
Oedipus Rex Sophocles
The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck
Walden Henry David Thoreau
The Slaughterhouse Five Kurt Vonnegut
The Color Purple Alice Walker
To do for next meeting February 9th:
AP lists for recommended reading
Books for guys
Divide up the first reading list
Come up with individualized favorite reading list for each teacher
Update: 2/7/09
Upon reflection of group dynamics, I've realized this group will have to be formed with the small number of willing teachers in the department who find this to be an area of need at our school. It would be ideal to have all the teachers in the department involved with this project; however, this is not possible. Some teachers don't want to add extra work or meeting time (especially because it will be after school and unpaid). I will have to start with the a core of teachers who recognize this as a valid project and generate enthusiasm about this project first in this group. Meeting Notes: 2/9/09 -Discussed AP recommended reading lists
-Found recommended reading list for male readers
Hanson Recommendations**:
A Long Way Gone Ishmael Beah
Over a Thousand Hills I Walk for You Hannah Jansen
Treasure Island Robert Louis Stevenson
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Maya Angelou
1984 George Orwell
The Secret Life of Bees Sue Monk Kidd
Savage Inequalities Jonathan Kozol
Amazing Grace Jonathan Kozol
Yellow Raft in Blue Water Michael Dorris
The House of the Seven Gables Nathaniel Hawthorne
Long Days Journey Into Night Eugene O’Neil
A Gathering of Old Men Ernest Gaines
The Color of Water James McBride
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Betty Smith
Like Water for Chocolate Laura Esquivel
The Bluest Eye Toni Morrison
Night Elie Wiesel
Native Speaker Chang Rae Lee
Christ in Concrete Pietro di Donato
Lies my Teacher Told Me James Loewen
Kingdom of Auschwitz Otto Friedrich
Angela’s Ashes Frank McCourt
Thousand Pieces of Gold Ruth Anne Lum McCunn
The Woman Warrior Maxine Kingston
A Doll’s House Henrik Ibsen
A Raisin in the Sun Loraine Hansberry
Much Ado About Nothing Shakespeare
The Solace of Open Spaces Gretel Erlich
Encounters with the Arch Druid John McPhee
Bless Me, Ultima Rudolph Anaya
West of Kabul, East of New York Tamin Ansary
The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini
We are all the Same Jim Woot
God Grew Tired of Us John Buldau
The Color of Water James McBride
A Gesture Life Chang Rae Lee
Maus I Art Spiegelman
Maus II Art Spiegelman
Black Like Me John Griffin
Walden Henry David Thoreau
Tuesdays with Morrie Mitch Album
The Giver Lois Lowry
Gathering Blue Lois Lowry
The Messenger Lois Lowry
A Lesson Before Dying Ernest Gaines
Passing Nella Larson
Ender’s Game Orson Scott Card
Ender’s Shadow Orson Scott Card
Three cups of Tea Greg Mortenson
Of Beetles and Angels Mawi Asgedom To do for next meeting:
Think of ways to organize reading lists.
Finish teacher recommended lists.
Finish reading books to add to list.
Updated Independent Reading Lists on K-W's Website--2/23 meeting notes:
When the school updates the archaic teacher webpages, we will each have these lists on our webpage. Right now, the webpages are too basic for this type of document/links. Megan is the only teacher who subscribes to a website, so we'll use her webpage for now.
(Look on Left side to find and access the lists)
Update from Megan 2/27/09 (via email):
Hey guys - Look at this I found we can add to our staff development project http://www.teachersfirst.com/getsource.cfm?id=4096 You can click by grades and get a whole list of books! I will add that to our list of resources! Happy Friday!Megan
Update from Jeff 3/3/09 (via email):
Cassie: The bulletin board is up in the library! Your students' pictures and and recommended reading lists from last semester look great and I've noticed a lot of other students checking out the same books because their peers are on the bulletin board. I'm going to order more of Card's Ender's Shadow because all your students are asking for the sequel to Ender's Game. They love the book. What a great novel for freshmen year. Unfortunately, we only have two copies of Ender's Shadow--not enough to go around.
In April, Dan will be done with the 9th grade honors students' independent reading project and I'll switch the bulletin board.
· Goal: Develop a differentiated reading list for each grade level—(separate reading list for regular ed. classes and honors)
· Come up with strategies to entice students to read outside of regular classroom texts
o Narrowed free reading list, divided by genre or topic of interest and each class require students to read one book per quarter
o Allow Jeff to come into the classroom and discuss good books—work on selling a book to a student
-Jeff will put up bulletin boards in the library after individual classes complete independent reading projects
o Webpage of a recommended reading list for parents with tips about what to discuss while students are reading. Suggested ideas:
§ Themes
§ What to look for and discuss in the text
§ Literary terms to look for
§ Cheat sheet for parents so they can sit down and book talk with their students
§ Brochure type information for each book
§ Links to reading lists, good sites, library catalog
§ Book list with recommended reading based on grade and class
Complete Literature Review about independent reading and reading motivation (Cassie)
· Come up with motivational strategies for teachers to hand out to parents at registration/open house type of functions
· Develop a book club—after school curricular activity (Jeff’s goal)
· Create a section of library dedicated to student book recommendations, generate student recommended reading lists
· Flyers in the library—for “biblio quests”
· Post reading lists on staff websites, on school website for easy at home access
· On website post:
o Individual teacher recommendations
o AP Test recommended reading
o Reading resource for parents and students
o Great reading books for guys
o Great reading for books
Books staff will read to approve:
· Treasure Island (Hanson)
· Metamorphosis (Schreiber)
· Pride and Prejudice (Kitze-Ward)
Current books approved by 2 staff members (will be divided into reading lists for each grade level and each class—honors, AP, regular English):
Title Author
Beowulf
Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen
Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte
Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte
The Canterbury Tales Geoffrey Chaucer
The Awakening Kate Chopin
Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad
The Red Badge of Courage Stephen Crane
Inferno Dante
Don Quixote Miguel de Cervantes
A Tale of Two Cities Charles Dickens
Crime and Punishment Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass
As I lay Dying William Faulkner
The Great Gatsby Scott Fitzgerald
Lord of the Flies William Golding
The Scarlett Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne
A Farewell to Arms Ernest Hemingway
The Iliad Homer
The Odyssey Homer
Their Eyes Were Watching God Zora Neale Hurston
Brave New World Aldous Huxley
A Doll’s House Henrik Ibsen
To Kill a Mocking Bird Harper Lee
The Call of the Wild Jack London
Bartelby the Scrivener Herman Melville
Moby Dick Herman Melville
Beloved Toni Morrison
Doctor Zhivago Boris Pasternak
The Bell Jar Sylvia Plath
Hamlet Shakespeare
Macbeth “
A Mid Summer Night’s Dream “
Romeo and Juliet “
Frankenstein Mary Shelley
Ceremony Leslie Silko
Antigone Sophocles
Oedipus Rex Sophocles
The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck
Walden Henry David Thoreau
The Slaughterhouse Five Kurt Vonnegut
The Color Purple Alice Walker
To do for next meeting February 9th:
AP lists for recommended reading
Books for guys
Divide up the first reading list
Come up with individualized favorite reading list for each teacher
Update: 2/7/09
Upon reflection of group dynamics, I've realized this group will have to be formed with the small number of willing teachers in the department who find this to be an area of need at our school. It would be ideal to have all the teachers in the department involved with this project; however, this is not possible. Some teachers don't want to add extra work or meeting time (especially because it will be after school and unpaid). I will have to start with the a core of teachers who recognize this as a valid project and generate enthusiasm about this project first in this group.
Meeting Notes: 2/9/09
-Discussed AP recommended reading lists
-Found recommended reading list for male readers
Hanson Recommendations**:
A Long Way Gone Ishmael Beah
Over a Thousand Hills I Walk for You Hannah Jansen
Treasure Island Robert Louis Stevenson
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Maya Angelou
1984 George Orwell
The Secret Life of Bees Sue Monk Kidd
Savage Inequalities Jonathan Kozol
Amazing Grace Jonathan Kozol
Yellow Raft in Blue Water Michael Dorris
The House of the Seven Gables Nathaniel Hawthorne
Long Days Journey Into Night Eugene O’Neil
A Gathering of Old Men Ernest Gaines
The Color of Water James McBride
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Betty Smith
Like Water for Chocolate Laura Esquivel
The Bluest Eye Toni Morrison
Night Elie Wiesel
Native Speaker Chang Rae Lee
Christ in Concrete Pietro di Donato
Lies my Teacher Told Me James Loewen
Kingdom of Auschwitz Otto Friedrich
Angela’s Ashes Frank McCourt
Thousand Pieces of Gold Ruth Anne Lum McCunn
The Woman Warrior Maxine Kingston
A Doll’s House Henrik Ibsen
A Raisin in the Sun Loraine Hansberry
Much Ado About Nothing Shakespeare
The Solace of Open Spaces Gretel Erlich
Encounters with the Arch Druid John McPhee
Bless Me, Ultima Rudolph Anaya
West of Kabul, East of New York Tamin Ansary
The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini
We are all the Same Jim Woot
God Grew Tired of Us John Buldau
The Color of Water James McBride
A Gesture Life Chang Rae Lee
Maus I Art Spiegelman
Maus II Art Spiegelman
Black Like Me John Griffin
Walden Henry David Thoreau
Tuesdays with Morrie Mitch Album
The Giver Lois Lowry
Gathering Blue Lois Lowry
The Messenger Lois Lowry
A Lesson Before Dying Ernest Gaines
Passing Nella Larson
Ender’s Game Orson Scott Card
Ender’s Shadow Orson Scott Card
Three cups of Tea Greg Mortenson
Of Beetles and Angels Mawi Asgedom
To do for next meeting:
Think of ways to organize reading lists.
Finish teacher recommended lists.
Finish reading books to add to list.
Updated Independent Reading Lists on K-W's Website--2/23 meeting notes:
-Created differentiated reading lists per grade level, gender, reading ability, and genre.
-Added the lists to the following website:
http://myteacherpages.com/webpages/mkitzeward/germantown.cfm
When the school updates the archaic teacher webpages, we will each have these lists on our webpage. Right now, the webpages are too basic for this type of document/links. Megan is the only teacher who subscribes to a website, so we'll use her webpage for now.
(Look on Left side to find and access the lists)
Update from Megan 2/27/09 (via email):
Hey guys - Look at this I found we can add to our staff development project http://www.teachersfirst.com/getsource.cfm?id=4096 You can click by grades and get a whole list of books! I will add that to our list of resources! Happy Friday!Megan
Update from Jeff 3/3/09 (via email):
Cassie: The bulletin board is up in the library! Your students' pictures and and recommended reading lists from last semester look great and I've noticed a lot of other students checking out the same books because their peers are on the bulletin board. I'm going to order more of Card's Ender's Shadow because all your students are asking for the sequel to Ender's Game. They love the book. What a great novel for freshmen year. Unfortunately, we only have two copies of Ender's Shadow--not enough to go around.
In April, Dan will be done with the 9th grade honors students' independent reading project and I'll switch the bulletin board.
-Jeff
Here's the link to the book that links the books to reviews/other web pages:
http://www.myteacherpages.com/webpages/mkitzeward/reading.cfm
-Megan